Steve Getsie was drawn to Malvern Prep because of his passion for hockey and lacrosse. By all accounts, it’s been a good fit. The junior defenseman will be in the lineup Wednesday night when the Friars face off against Holy Ghost Prep in the Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinals at Ice Line (6:45 start). 

Malvern Prep is the defending Flyers Cup and state champion and recently claimed the APAC title.

Getsie is in his third varsity season, a stay-at-home defenseman who does the little things well and processes a strong work ethic. Not that he didn’t have some adjustments to make at first. Like most newcomers to high school hockey, he had to become comfortable playing with and against players who were bigger, stronger, and older.

“I’m a January ‘05 birthday,” he said, “so I was usually older than most of the kids I played with. My eighth- grade year I was playing with ‘06s, so I was so I was a lot bigger than most of the guys I was playing against, so when I came into high school it was definitely a change to be playing on varsity against seniors that were a lot bigger and stronger than me.”

Getsie prides himself on being a physical player, but he had to tone down that side of his game when he first came to Malvern Prep because of the physical maturity of his teammates and opponents.

”Just because being a younger guy out there was a little bit different,” he said.

But the foundation of Getsie’s game remained unchanged.

“I definitely just played my game of hockey,” he said. “I didn’t come in and try to do something else. I feel like I’ve always been more of a defensive defenseman than an offensive defenseman. Coming to Malvern, I was definitely able to harp on those strengths.

“I would be a physical player, I would block a bunch of shots and a lot of the older guys, when I was a freshman and sophomore, they really respected me for putting my body on the line for the team. So, that was able to help me fit in on the team and that’s kind of my place still, being a defensive defenseman that puts his body on the line and plays for the team.”

The Friars have set a standard of excellence for two seasons now. Many of their players play together at the club level. Getsie says that familiarity breeds success. 

“We’ve been together for the last three years, pretty much,” he said. “The star players that are the juniors and senior Jimmy (Jacobs) Pierre (Larocque), (Matt) Harris and Quinn Dougherty, they’ve all been playing on the same team since our freshman and sophomore years, so this has all been over the last three years.

“Just being able to play with each other on Malvern as well as most of those guys playing in the same organization or on the same team elsewhere. I think that has allowed everyone to develop good chemistry the last three years. And then it has helped Malvern develop into the kind of team we are.”

Getsie notes that the culture at Malvern Prep encourages unselfishness, and that mindset carries over onto the ice.

“I think it’s kind of the history of Malvern hockey,” he said, “whether we were a top team or not. The seniors, and the older guys before those guys, kind of set (the standard) to always be a leader for the team and not a self-centered guy. 

“As well as at Malvern, we kind of have that theme of brotherhood and I’ve definitely seen that come out on the team as well the school in total just going through Covid. Everyone has come together and we’re all like a family so, I feel like in the environment we have on our team, nobody plays for themselves and they all want what’s best for the team.”

The Friars are focused on successfully defending the Class AAA Flyers Cup, something that hasn’t happened since 2014.

“The mindset is ‘Take advantage of what we have,’” Getsie said. “We have another really good team this year and all of us would love to win it again. We’ve been practicing and we’re making sure we’re staying primed, staying in the atmosphere and mindset of hockey. We’re going to hit the ice on Wednesday and play like we left off last game.”